From homeless and using drugs to performing at the Edinburgh Fringe

The National

2 days ago

Iain Anderson, 41, moved from Port Glasgow to Barcelona on a whim in 2011. Since ditching Scotland for the Spanish sun, the comic has gone from 'rock bottom' to finding himself in a blossoming comedy career.
Now eight years sober, Anderson spoke candidly with The National about living in active addiction, experiencing homelessness, struggles with his mental health and how all of it informed his one-man show, which returns to the Fringe after a successful European tour.
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He got into comedy 'quite late', performing for the first time the night before his 39th birthday.
'People had been telling me to do comedy for a really long time. It was always one of those things that I thought was for other people. In the back of my mind, I was like, well, maybe I'm funny at work and maybe I'll just be the funny guy at a party', he said.
He joined a writing class recommended by a friend. Despite describing himself as 'the worst one there" and saying reverting into a 'complete 15-year-old' who claimed his dog had eaten his homework, he powered through.
As part of the course, Anderson had to perform a seven-minute open mic set. After 'smashing it', he put on his show once more before deciding to take the plunge, quitting his job in 2024 and heading to the Fringe for the first time to perform Traumedy: A Guide to Being a Fabulous Homeless Addict.
The show focuses on Anderson's descent into addiction, which eventually left him living in a park in the heart of Barcelona. He said his move to the Spanish city, a place where 'nobody grows up', combined with the heavy party culture of its LGBT+ scene and a lack of contact with peers back home created the 'perfect storm' for his spiral.
'There was no one to say, hey, knock that on the head, that's enough. Everyone in my life was quite transient, and it meant that the only people I knew were people who wanted to have a good time', he explained.
'Those friendships, as beautiful as they might feel from a Friday to a Monday when you're absolutely out of it, those people are not going to come looking for you when you reach rock bottom and the shit hits the fan.
'I knew a lot of people, but none of them were friends.'
Anderson slept in a park with his dog until receiving help and support (Image: Iain Anderson) After meeting another Scot who worked with Esperanca, a service providing hot meals for the homeless in Barcelona which Anderson now serves on the board of, as well as a brief stint in a psychiatric unit, the Port Glasgow native managed to leave the streets behind before eventually pursuing comedy.
Despite his show being informed by his trauma, Anderson explained the nuance behind his eye-watering honesty and why people shouldn't heal in the public eye.
He said: 'It's one of the things with the show that people have commented on most, 'I can't believe how honest you're being'.
'And I thought, well, things might be worse than I remembered and that will be some people's version of their experience with me.
'If your whole life is going to fall apart because someone catches you in a lie, your life is never yours, and so I work very hard at being excessively honest so that nobody can ever take anything away from me again.
'I think I talk about mental health in a way that is not coming from a victim mindset, and I don't say that to be disparaging to people out there who are trying to heal in public.
'I just don't think that's the right way to do it. I don't think you should be using the audience as therapy.
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'I think the reason why people connect with my story is because I've done so much work around all this that I'm able to laugh with it too, and my show isn't about me. People come up to me afterwards now and say it's made them think about their mother, their friend, their own problems with substances.
'Even though it's sad, it's very funny, and it's funny for the right reasons, which is laughing at how insane it was, rather than me getting the joke in there before anyone else can.'
Traumedy: A Guide to Being a Fabulous Homeless Addict has come leaps and bounds since its first outing at the Fringe in 2024. At last year's festival, the comic performed in the basement of Edinburgh's Kafe Kweer.
'I was too tall to stand up so I did the whole show sitting down in a massive Morticia Addams wicker chair with my legs crossed the full time because I was so uncomfortable', he said.
Asked what audiences should expect now that Traumedy has been around continental Europe, Anderson told The National that 'you'll at least be able to see my lovely legs this time'.
Iain Anderson will be performing at Boston Bar from July 31 until August 24. Tickets are available here.
Help is available. We Are With You provides addiction support and Shelter Scotland can assist those experiencing homelessness.